As economic sanctions become a routine instrument of interstate competition, trade disruption is increasingly a standing feature of the global economy rather than an occasional shock. This article asks how exposure is distributed across national economies, and whether it is organized territorially or relationally. Using a sanctions-based trade disruption index for sixty-five economies from 2010 to 2023, it maps the distribution of exposure, tests formally for spatial clustering, and relates exposure to institutional capacity. Exposure is concentrated in a small but geographically dispersed set of economies and has intensified since 2014, and sharply since 2022, yet it does not cluster in space: It follows economies' positions in the international political order rather than their location. Less politically stable economies bear systematically higher exposure. The study draws sanctions into economic geography's relational analysis of uneven development.
Spatial orientation and navigation skills are fundamental for interacting with the environment, yet their development is often neglected in education, and navigation systems are even criticized for harming these skills. Additionally, there is a growing body of concern that digital maps may be detrimental to spatial orientation and navigation skills. In this article, we explore the potential of the mobile geogame "GeoGami," to improve these skills through targeted training interventions. The first study compared training with static maps to spatially adapting maps, which adapt visualization and information content depending on the location. Although digital maps are often claimed to impair spatial orientation, our results show that spatially adaptive (digital) maps used in dedicated training tools improve spatial orientation significantly more than static maps. The second study examined how such trainings can be effectively integrated into educational curricula. Pre-and posttests showed significant improvements in all subcompetencies-landmarks, spatial configurations, and spatial memory-underscoring the potential of digital tools to support spatial learning in educational settings. This study contributes to the growing body of research on geogames and spatial learning, highlighting their potential to address educational gaps and inspire innovative approaches to teaching spatial skills in the digital age.
